The unsavory Clintons
By Carol Devine-Molin
web posted June 9, 2003
The Clintons are the quintessential power duo that can't seem to
get presidential aspirations out of their lifeblood. Nothing is quite
like sitting in that Oval Office.
Anyone paying even the slightest bit attention to national politics
knows this particular buzz -- Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
reportedly has intentions of running for president in 2008.
Clearly, she would run in 2004 if she thought she had half-a-
chance against George W. Bush. Interestingly, New York state
registered voters are not supportive of Hillary's ambitions, with
58 per cent of respondents expressing disapproval for a Hillary
presidential bid in a recent Marist poll. Hillary Clinton's overall
job performance was rated as rather mediocre by New Yorkers,
which probably has many of them now wondering why they
foolishly provided her with a Senate seat stepping-stone to the
presidency. Even as the national economy shows signs of upturn
and recovery, the New York state economy is sure to lag, given
the pernicious effects of substantial tax increases recently
generated in Albany.
Hillary's just released White House memoir, "Living History",
which would have been more aptly entitled "Revisionist History"
or "Incredibly Spun History", was actually put together by three
ghost writers and vetted by a phalanx of attorneys as part and
parcel of her future presidential run. This book, and another by
Clinton White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, are really
preemptive measures aimed at effectively finessing and defusing
the anticipated scrutiny that will ensue during her presidential run.
Hillary's strategy is to get "the truth" out there and inoculate
against intensive and intrusive questioning during her presidential
campaign.
Although Hillary was able to get elected in a profoundly liberal
state such as New York, these election results certainly can't be
generalized to the rest of the nation. Polling demonstrates that
Hillary is an extremely polarizing figure associated with the far-
left, and doesn't possess the widespread appeal necessary to win
in America, a politically "center-right" nation. In my humble
opinion, it seems much more likely that the first woman president
will be a Republican, not a dyed in the wool leftist that attempted
to impose socialized medicine upon America during her
husband's administration.
Moreover, it's a safe bet that Bill Clinton is still hankering for
another turn as the world's most powerful leader, given his desire
to repeal the 22nd Amendment that would pave the way for a
third-term presidential bid somewhere down the road.
Thankfully, it's highly unlikely that the 22nd Amendment will be
revised. However, Bill Clinton is an unbelievably manipulative
and self-centered individual – the dysfunctional politician that we
have come to know all too well. OK, so maybe he would accept
the head-honcho job at the United Nations, but make no
mistake, the UN position still pales in comparison to being
POTUS.
All-in-all, this is probably an appropriate time to revisit the
Clinton White House and its legacy, while it's still relatively fresh
in our collective memories and before it is irrevocably massaged
by the Clinton spinmeisters. This brings me to the eyewitness
accounts, and insightful assessments, of author Buzz Patterson
who worked for Bill Clinton.
In his bestselling tome entitled, "Dereliction of Duty", Buzz
Patterson (Lieutenant Colonel USAF, now retired) provides us
with a bird's eye view of the day-to-day chaotic and
undisciplined Clinton presidency. Patterson, who was one of a
handful of military aides in charge of the "nuclear football", was
regularly in the presence of Bill Clinton during a two-year period
from May 1996 through May 1998 when he resigned from the
Air Force. Patterson rightly summed up the modus operandi of
the Clinton White House, stating, "As a newcomer I asked for a
White House organizational chart, a wiring diagram, something
that laid out the administration's chain of command. I was told,
‘There isn't one'. That didn't entirely surprise me, because the
Clinton White House seemed disjointed, reactive, and highly
undisciplined to a career military officer. In Air Force flying
parlance, we'd term this ‘all thrust, no vector' or ‘all fluff, no
stuff'".
The author also acted as a direct conduit between Bill Clinton
and his cabinet advisors when Clinton was traveling, which was
rather often, and helped coordinate considerable military
involvement on these trips. Patterson witnessed quite a bit -- He
cited myriad examples of Clinton's avoidance, indecisiveness,
arrogance and moral turpitude that made him unfit to lead this
nation, especially in the realms of national security and the
utilization of the military. Clearly, the growing threat of militant
Islam, which led directly to the September 11th assaults, can be
laid right at the doorstep of the Clinton presidency.
As Buzz Patterson espoused, "In his eight years in office,
President Clinton's military response to the terrorist threats was
negligible and did nothing to seriously address the problem,
instead following a de facto course of drift, which allowed the
terrorist network to grow in size and strength. The problem
within the administration was, again a complete and total
blindness to the proper use of the military". Patterson describes a
patently inept commander-in-chief who could not bring himself to
act – Essentially, Clinton was immobilized by his own personal
foibles. Among an array of significant episodes, Patterson cited
lost opportunities to deal with Osama bin Laden, and to aid the
Kurds in Iraq who were poised to be squelched by Saddam
Hussein's forces.
And the author underscores the manner in which the Clinton
administration systematically demoralized members of the
military, who were overworked and underpaid, "slashing the total
active-duty force by about a third and increasing deployments by
almost 300 percent". That said, understandably there were
problems with military recruitment and retention during the
Clinton years. Bill Clinton was real cad – He left the Armed
Forces in ruins for the incoming commander-in-chief to clean up
and make whole. Patterson stated that "the Clinton
administration inexcusably hollowed out our military capability
and has left President Bush with the tab".
Patterson referenced his experiences with a number of White
House players, but Hillary Clinton is undoubtedly the most
fascinating character – portrayed by Patterson as an angry and
controlling woman with a sense of entitlement, and a propensity
to verbally abuse others with streams of vulgarities. Reportedly,
Hillary's outbursts even engendered fear in her husband, who
"looked like a beaten puppy. He put his head down and didn't
try to fight back. He said, ‘Yes, I understand. Yes, dear, I
know'…between her volleys of expletives". However, Patterson
indicated that Hillary could stop on a dime, and be completely
charming if there was a public occasion at hand. Patterson also
believed that the Clintons blatantly misused taxpayer monies,
citing a 43 million dollar trip to Africa for various cronies, and
Hillary Clinton's multiple campaign trips to New York, "at least
seventy", which utilized Air Force aircraft at formidable
manpower and cost.
Patterson was ultimately disheartened by all that transpired, and
resigned from the Air Force. However, he endured one final
unpleasantness. On his day of departure, Patterson brought his
family to the Oval Office to meet President Clinton. And, as
Patterson stated, "I caught a glance at President Clinton, and I
couldn't believe it. He was eyeballing my wife as though she had
just entered a singles bar. I was angry and immediately regretted
being there and putting my wife in this situation". As he left,
Patterson only felt "tremendous relief -- There was no sadness.
There was only the sense that the man in the Oval Office had
sown a whirlwind of destruction upon the integrity of our
government, endangered our national security, and done
enormous harm to the American military in which I served".
I'm sure that Buzz Patterson is now delighted by the much
improved state of the US military, which is undergoing a
Renaissance period of transformation, with accompanying
morale boost, courtesy of President George W. Bush and
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Carol Devine-Molin is a regular contributor to several online
magazines.
Enter Stage Right -- http://www.enterstageright.com